2.5 Programming languages and IDEs

Question 1

What is low level language

Answer 1

Written in assembly language
Hard to understand
Are restrictions
E.g. machine code(binary)

Question 2

What is high level language

Answer 2

Written with words
Easy to understand
Aren’t restrictions
E.g. python

Question 3

What are the benefits of low level language

Answer 3

Require less memory when translated
Create code that can be executed faster
Allows total control of code

Question 4

What are the benefits of high level language

Answer 4

Easy to modify as it uses English like statements
Faster to write code as it uses English like statements
Portable code - can be used on multiple machines

Question 5

What do assemblers do and its advantages and disadvantages

Answer 5

Only used for low level languages so translates the code into machine code

Simple translation process

Very specific

Question 6

What do interpreters do and its advantages and disadvantages

Answer 6

Translates code one line at a time. If an error is found it stops

Errors will be reported as soon as they are encountered

May take a long time to translate as all code being translated into an executable file

Question 7

What do compilers do and its advantages and disadvantages

Answer 7

Translates all the code at once into an executable file

Compiled programs can be distributed as machine code, meaning that the source code is hidden and can be kept secret for commercial reasons

You have to wait until the entire program is compiled before receiving any errors, which for a large program may take some time

Question 8

What are the tools that an IDE use

Answer 8

Editors - auto complete, keyword highlighting, line numbering
Error diagnostics - break point adds a pause to your program to stop the flow of execution at a place which allows you to trace the value of a variable
Run time environment - software that allows a program to run on a computer, even if it is not designed to run on it
Translators - interpreter, compiler, assembler